St. Barts is kind of good but can we go now?

Why did the chicken cross the road? It was stuck to this car...

We decided to leave for St. Barts on the morning of Ascension Day, which is a holiday in these parts. Supposedly all the shops are closed, but everything we needed was open. Matt bought some coffee at McDonalds to use their Wi-Fi to check the wind and weather. Then he headed over to Customs to check out. Most importantly, he got some chocolate croissants and a baguette.

The trip to St. Bart's had us heading straight into the wind as we slammed against big, confused seas. We sailed about halfway and then turned on the motors. Mercifully, this trip was relatively short and positioned us for a better wind angle to St. Kitt's. We only stayed one night because the anchorage was very roll-y and it's 22 Euros a night just to anchor (for us anyway because they charge by the square foot). On the upside, there are free showers, if you can brave the mosquitos.

We walked around town, which is decidedly upscale, but most of the shops were closed for Ascension Day. There also seemed to be a very high ratio of restaurants to residents, and most of them were well outside any budget we might hope to keep.  I guess the mega yachts and wealthy tourists keep them in business.  We did manage to find some really expensive gelato though.

People are always commenting that Mark and Conrad are having such a great experience by sailing to different countries and seeing other cultures firsthand. I think that this is mostly true, but it is also sometimes against their will. Judging by their complaining, walking around new places ranks just above learning multiplication tables. "I'm hot!" "I'm tired!" "My _______ hurts." "Can we go back to the boat?" "Is this our daily torture?" (That last gem is from Mark.) As we walked around St. Bart's on game day (the day of the week that they get to play iPad games for an hour or so), Mark spent the whole time asking what time it was so we wouldn't get back too late for games.  Let's hope some of the experience is gained via osmosis, 'cause it isn't always being ingested voluntarily.

Old fort being used as a police station.

Of course, they love the beach and jumping off the boat. So they're kind of like other kids who go on vacation to Europe but only want to play in the hotel pool.